Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice
by FiddleStixx
Summary: Prompt - "I work at some coffee place and fucking wow, you either have the weirdest or the coolest name I've ever heard, but I can't spell that right now, so I'm just gonna write 'bae' instead." Pre-Flash AU


Ah, collage. Long nights filled with alcohol, drugs, sex, studying. The time of your life really.

Not so much for people like Bartholomew 'Barry' Allen and his best friend Iris West.

Barry and Iris, though not exactly the model collage students (well, okay, Barry is), had responsibilities like everyone else. The 20-something year olds had pretty much every opportunity to go to good parties and ingest drugs and drink, which they did. But, they also had jobs, real jobs to make real money that might be paying off their student debts right now as we speak.

While Iris interned at Central City News in town (her dream for years), Barry had a more...challenging job. If you included the whole of Central City somehow cramming into an space the size of Iris's dad Joe's living room and somehow surviving eachother.

Yes, Barry was a barista and a damn good one at that. It seemed that way at least, for the looks his customers at the local establishment Jitters had everytime they'd finished one of his fast and freshly made coffees or lattes or non-fat, sugar free, mochachini's, whatever it was, his friend and colleague Kendra swore up and down he had 'the touch' and basically kept him over to the side manning the machine while she did the customer service.

Barry didn't mind, even if he had to get up at ass o'clock to be at work. Currently, that time was getting to be a little more bearable, considering that was the time period where the doors flung or were pushed open to reveal a heavenly sight. Now, on all accounts, Barry was not a church goer, but the man that walked in between the hours of 7:00am and 9:30am on most days except on weekends where it was more close to 11:00am, made his knees go weak.

He did not know the man of the man in question, but he wished he could. The man, of either Puerto Rican, Portuguese or Spanish descent with long black hair that was loose (on weekdays) or up on a bun (on weekends) and the softest brown eyes Barry had ever laid eyes on, usually came in on average at 8:30am in a pair of tight jeans and a science fiction t-shirt to stand in line with all the other customers and it depended on the day so much what he ordered, Barry somehow, was actually keeping track.

It tended to be when he got to Kendra, what mood he was in that predicted his drinks. If he was tired and grumpy, it was one tall coffee with two sugars and soy milk to go. If he was jolly and cheerful (that was his best mood, Barry mused. He could watch that smile stay permanently affixed on his face all day), it was hot chocolate with lots of little marshmallows on top. (He seemed to have a preference for the pink ones. Barry always made sure they were only pink in his. He made him light up inside seeing the man smile the machine's way knowing it was whoever was there, but not him.)

It would be almost 8 months after working at Jitters that Barry Allen would get to know the man who crushed on and Iris and Kendra teased him mercilessly about. But, the way it happened was by accident.

Or rather, the accident of Barry becoming social for one night and Kendra being sick.

Hungover and positively miserable from the all out party he had attended the night before upon Iris's 'request' (more like demand), Barry almost wanted to crawl under a rock when he got a call from Kendra saying she was full of the flu and he'd have to survive on his own for a day, which he dreaded. True to form, it was absolute chaos when he opened up shop at the late hour of 7:30am and the unsuspecting mob of customers waiting for him slunk though.

After taking a bunch of painkillers and having them start to kick on the 1 hour mark of being in business, of course /HE/ had to stride right in all jolly and cheerful and be standing right in front of him while he looked like shit. Damn his life.

Taking in his appearance (hair down, 'Keep Calm and Han Shot First' t-shirt (he had to keep his fanboying in for that one.), blue jeans, over shirt (red with little yellow lightning bolts, huh…) and red sneakers), he put on his best smile. "One tall coffee, two sugars, soy milk, cinnamon powder. Be ready in 2 ticks."

The man gaped as he turned around to start the process when he finally spoke, Barry freezing in place at the sound of the voice in his ears and floating around his heart. "You need my name for the cup? It's a tough one." The man chuckled, sounding sheepish at the mention of his name.

Barry, having been standing there for a few minutes with his lips slightly parted, nodded. The only explanation for the mistake of Barry writing 'Bae' on the cup instead of the mumbled 'Cisco' that came out of the man's lips was blamed (much later, of course) on a combination of his hangover, the sheer presence of the man in front of him and the fact that, yes, it was a strange name and unfortunately, though studying CSI work, Barry couldn't really spell that as he was quite incapacitated.

When he finally finished, he made eye contact with the man, yelling out over the sound of chattering people "Coffee for Bae!"

You could have honestly heard a pin drop in the place as everyone went quiet silent and Barry almost died on the spot, red staining his cheeks like a tomato when he suddenly heard chuckling and found the man walking over to the counter towards him.

Taking the coffee, Cisco Ramon shook his head before producing a S.T.A.R Labs pen out of nowhere and writing his real name and mobile number on a napkin, swapping it for the coffee. "While I don't mind 'Bae' Barry, I prefer Cisco currently." He smirked, watching as Barry turned the colour of his shirt before chuckling with him, tucking the napkin in his pocket before adjusting his apron and going onto the next customer quite embarrassed.

It would be 4 months until the lighting strike that would change Barry's entire life cycle would happen and he would become the Flash and a year and half after the particle accelerator explosion, that Jitter's coffee suddenly started turning up out of nowhere in S.T.A.R Labs in the mornings with sticky notes on them. On the lighting blot covered paper, in black neat scribble, it read:

' **To:** Cisco

 **From:** Bear *3*'


End file.
